From Wikipedia: The film loosely follows the life of J.E.B. Stuart (Errol Flynn) before the outbreak of the American Civil War. Among its sub-plots include a romance with the fictional Kit Carson Holliday (Olivia de Havilland), friendship with George Armstrong Custer (Ronald Reagan), and battles against abolitionist John Brown (Raymond Massey).
Reviewer:
Mikestone8
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favoritefavoritefavoritefavorite -
July 20, 2021 Subject:
"The Ten Commandments" Through Egyptian Eyes.
An interesting 1940 western, though it takes considerable liberties with history and biography. It follows the lives of several West Point graduates
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of the 1850s, who are destined all too soon to become famous, as they are posted to Kansas Territory and meet up with the notorious John Brown. It has a great cast, including Errol Flynn and Ronald Reagan, who rather predictably fall for the same girl (Olivia de Havilland), with Raymond Massey as Brown himself. Massey takes a brilliant part as the religious fanatic, serving a basically good cause by the very worst of means. In his conviction that his every act fulfils the will of God, he at times anticipates Charlton Heston’s Moses, though unlike Moses he doesn’t get any miracles or other Divine help. However, that lack does not seem to cramp his style. When he hears the Voice of God, one has little doubt that to him it sounds very much like his own. The good guys, for their part, have mixed feelings about Brown. To some degree, they can see where he is coming from, but they are firmly on the side of law and order. To them, he comes over much as Moses might have appeared to a bunch of decent and reasonable Egyptians, who can sympathise with his aims, but cannot accept his methods. Another parallel might be with some 21C liberal, deeply in sympathy with the Palestinians, who utterly loathes Israeli policies, yet cannot stomach the actions of ISIS or Al Qaeda. And, like Brown, they do their duty as they see it. Inevitably, the film shows its age at times, most notably in the portrayal of the Blacks, which must surely make a modern viewer cringe. At times it is even worse than Gone With the Wind in this respect, and one must be grateful that the scenes where Blacks appear are few, and mercifully brief. Also, at times I feel the South is let off just a shade too lightly, with little awareness that the fanaticism was not all on one side. I rather wish they could have included someone like Edmund Ruffin (the nutjob who fired the first shot at Fort Sumter) to remind us that there were plenty of extremists below the Mason-Dixon Line as well as above it. This said, however, it is still well worth a view. Above all, it does a good job of conveying a sense of impending doom, as the little victims drink and chat together without any sense of the tragedy that awaits, in which some of them will (along with so many others) be killed or maimed. There is a bittersweet irony in the words put into the mouth of Robert E Lee (Moroni Olsen) at Brown’s execution “So perish all enemies of the Union” spoken in blissful ignorance that in little over a year he will be an enemy of the Union himself. Only Olivia de Havilland weeps, in anticipation of what Brown’s life and death portend. Swallow the anachronisms and watch it.
Reviewer:
kareneliot
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March 28, 2010 Subject:
I enjoyed it
I liked this movie... but I like most civil war movies.
Reviewer:
skybandit
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March 14, 2010 Subject:
Yeah, it's a bad copy.
Why not ask for your money back? Some poor schlub takes the time and effort to share something with others without recompense and gets slapped in the
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face for it. Bet you jokers critique your 8-year old's artwork and won't put it up on the fridge until they do it right. I've seen this film in better quality, but the history's still wrong and Ronnie Ray-Gun is still blurry. Always was, come to think of it... Am I a dick if I knocked a star off for the quality of the upload, or just being honest so that the next person that comes along knows what to expect? No offense to the poster is intended. From the civilized members of this library, please accept a thank you, and ignore the wieners..er, whiners!
Reviewer:
Mersh
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March 13, 2010 Subject:
ISO is busticated
According to 7-zip that is. It unzips about a third of the iso, but says that it's borked after that. Recommend that the whiners here (especially the
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demanding moron that says the poster should get a different copy) ... recommend that the WHINERS here go find a paid video site to download from. It's one thing to note that a particular video clip is not all it can be... but insulting the poster only makes you look like uneducated ignoramuses. retroflick.com
Reviewer:
Der Bingle
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favoritefavoritefavoritefavorite -
October 10, 2007 Subject:
it's free !!!
Quit complaining! It's free, you monkeys ! Pay for Netflix if you want a better version, you lilacs !
Reviewer:
Westwind Studios
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October 4, 2007 Subject:
who coded this movie?
the resolution sucks, sucks, sucks! no matter what format you download
Reviewer:
rq52
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favorite -
October 3, 2007 Subject:
Errol Flynn in a blurry film
I like Mr. Flynn body of work, but this copy of Santa Fe Trail is similar watching a water ballet. I have tried to download all the versions you have
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this murky mess and none of them is very clear. Please clean it up or get a new copy for IA
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